One of two planes that left Guyana illegally under the cover of darkness on Saturday has been given clearance to leave Anguilla and the other was grounded in the British overseas territory, Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson has said.
“One was allowed to leave because one aircraft has airworthiness, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) certification, and there was no reason that they could hold or ground it any longer. The other was not airworthy and that one is grounded,” Patterson told Stabroek News last evening.
He said that government will wait on a report – due early this week – of the incident, before deciding on what actions will be taken locally and internationally. The spiriting away of the planes has raised serious questions about regulatory controls.
Around 4am on Saturday morning, two Cessna 206 aircraft, bearing registration numbers 8R-GTP and 8R-GMP and owned by Oxford Aviation, took off from the Eugene F Correia International Airport (EFCIA).
They did not have the necessary Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) clearance and permission to fly while there is a High Court injunction in place barring the aircraft from leaving this jurisdiction. That court matter stemmed from another company, Domestic Airways, owned by pilot Orlando Charles, filing litigation for payment for damage reportedly caused by one of the Oxford Aviation planes.
It was reported that two operators from Oxford Aviation, its owner Munidat ‘Raj’ Persaud and a pilot he brought from the United States, presented their airside passes to the airport security stating that they were going to place some items on the aircraft and later took off without warning. The planes stopped in Grenada before leaving for Anguilla.
However, the aircraft were unable to leave Anguilla as Guyana had raised an alarm of the airspace regulation infractions here. Stabroek News understands that the planes were bound for the United States, where Persaud owns and operates a private charter service. One plane was subsequently allowed to leave.
Concerns have since been raised as to why the EFCIA tower did not notice the planes leaving and about the fact that they were only discovered missing some five hours later.
Patterson yesterday explained that while EFCIA is an international airport, it works on specified schedules and unlike the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), the tower there does not require the same round-the-clock manning.
Further, he pointed out that GCAA was served a writ from the High Court notifying the agency of the court matter, and, as such, directives were given to the towers of both airports to not grant flight clearance for the Oxford-owed planes.
The minister said the detailed probe will examine all the circumstances and processes relating to the events and the court matter, and after analysis, GCAA and government will determine its course of action.
As such, he did not want to speculate on how the planes were approved to land at other airports or how clearances were given for them to depart those locations. How Guyana will legally deal with the two pilots will also be determined after the report is presented and analysed.
However, sources in the airline industry said that the incident is a blatant violation of international and local civil aviation rules and could see both pilots banned from flying in addition to facing the courts on several criminal charges.
Spokesperson for EFCIA, Kit Nacimento has also pointed out that no flight plan was filed by the operators although they are obligated to do so and there were no requests for the runway lights to be turned on, although they took off before sunrise.
